


Nostalgic Alliance

by CatrinaSL



Series: Boulder, Parchment, Shears [8]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: (and possibly more), A Library, Alliances, Angst, Awkwardness, Blumentrio, But also, F/M, Familiars, Friendship, Hope, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, Nostalgia, OT3, Plotting, Post-Relationship, Pre-Relationship, Revenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:53:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26514757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatrinaSL/pseuds/CatrinaSL
Summary: At a quiet gathering in a private home, three former friends endure a strained reunion in order to make an alliance that will make the world a better place.
Relationships: Astrid & Eodwulf & Caleb Widogast, Astrid/Caleb Widogast, Astrid/Eodwulf (Critical Role), Astrid/Eodwulf/Caleb Widogast, Eodwulf/Caleb Widogast
Series: Boulder, Parchment, Shears [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/971727
Kudos: 37





	Nostalgic Alliance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MoonlitWoodElf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonlitWoodElf/gifts).



> MoonlitWoodElf prompted nostalgia, familiar/pet, a library.
> 
> I swear to Mercer that I wrote this thing in July. I figured I needed to get it up before episode 110 in case it (or something like it) becomes canon!

It was strange, being in Rexxentrum again after so long. 

Astrid's library was cozy and quiet, nothing like the vast ceilings of the Academy library where they used to sit and whisper, but it was nearly overwhelming just being in the same room again. The tea tasted of nostalgia, Astrid's favorite blend. 

And the way she whispered to him while Eadwulf sat just out of earshot: _"He broke, too, just like you. Just like me. All three of us differently. He followed blindly, to be used as nothing more than a thug. It may be hard for him, harder even than it was for you."_

 _"Was it hard for you, Astrid?"_ The question was out of Caleb's mouth and had reached her ears before he realized he was asking it, and her fingers went immediately, perhaps even unconsciously, to her scar.

Her eyes found Eadwulf's back, sitting as he was in a chair by the window, his interest fixed on Frumpkin purring in his lap.

 _"Yes, I think it was,"_ she replied. She shifted her gaze back to Caleb's face. _"It would have been easier if... if I had had the support I was used to."_

He swallowed an apology before it could escape. There was no sense in offering apologies; his absence had _not_ been his fault. 

Astrid nodded. She understood. She always understood. Oh, how he wanted to—

Frumpkin let out a chirruping purr and wound around Caleb's leg, shaking him from his thoughts. He looked up to see that Eadwulf had moved from his seat by the window, perhaps following the cat.

Eadwulf said nothing, just looked at Astrid, and she nodded. Caleb looked away. After seeing Eadwulf at the Sanatorium—still _with_ him—he found it hard to trust. That Eadwulf was here at all was remarkable, but he supposed that the same could be said for Caleb himself.

"It's not going to be the same," Astrid said quietly, and reached for Caleb's hand. He gave it, as he had so many times before. "It might not ever be the same again. But we are the only ones who have a chance to stop him before he does again what he did to us. You are the only ones I would ever trust to take this on with me."

Caleb nodded, noticing that at the same time she had reached for him, she had taken Eadwulf's hand as well. He looked up at the other man, and met his eye for the first time since they had been gathered in Astrid's library. There was a spark of something there, something like hope, something like... _longing._

And then it was gone as Eadwulf turned his face away with a quiet shame that had often been on Caleb's own face in years past.

Maybe things would not be the same again. But maybe they could get close—or at least _try._ If nothing else, they could make the world a better place.

Together.

"Bren," Astrid whispered, and he turned back to her. "Eadwulf." The other man looked from the carpet to Astrid. "Will you help me? Will you end Ikithon?"

"Yes," Bren said immediately, decidedly. Frumpkin leaped into his lap and he smiled down at his cat before extending a hand to the other man. "I will."

Eadwulf looked at the gesture, undisguised surprise on his face. He flicked a nervous glance Astrid's way, and the woman gave a nearly imperceptible nod.

"And I," Eadwulf agreed, taking Bren's hand, his grip desperate, a man grasping at a lifeline. "He will pay for what he did to us. For what he stole from us."

"Our lives," Astrid said with another, steadier nod.

"Our families," Eadwulf whispered, squeezing Bren's hand.

"Our _time,"_ Bren finished. "But that, at least, we can make up for."

"Can we?" Astrid asked, unsure.

Bren smiled at his former friends, now current allies. "The attempt itself is a victory against him. We can do this."

The smile on Eadwulf's face was a little shaky, as though he had forgotten how long ago. "I missed you both so much."

It was too soon for an embrace, but Astrid's eyes shone as she squeezed Bren's hand and replied, "We missed you too."

**Author's Note:**

> [Prompt a Three Things fic!](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf7S2MbkK0CxVHMG3kF8CD6fYqD0zwY-J6MqLb21nmFyRpE4w/viewform)


End file.
